Showdown with The Rogues
This Annual caps off The Rogues arc in a spectacular fashion, both completing one story and leaving you anxiously waiting for the next one to start.
The Good:
The Art. The annual has features the contributions of many great artists including a few pages by Scott Kolins (both appropriate and greatly appreciated).While they might not play around as much as Manupal they are both effective and competent.
The series really did pick up after what some may say was the lackluster "Mob Rule" arc starting with Issue 6 (the reintroduction of Captain Cold) all the way to Issue 12. This is the culmination of all of that and it pays off to a fantastic climax.
The writing is also once again great, showcasing much of the backstory of The Rogues, inner thoughts, motivations all in a believable way and with a bit of heart. We get some great character moments giving us some valuable insight.
The story is not only a fun read but a satisfying one to those that have been following the series. It pulls a great many of punches and surprises that will leave the reader guessing the outcome.
The Bad:
As others have noted the Annual is told at a frantic pace. While still enjoyable and almost surely intentional (the series as a whole has picked up a lot of speed) a slower pace to go more in depth into events would have worked in the Annual's favor.
Some plot points from previous issues are still left hanging and even though they will most likely be picked up in later issues that they were not mentioned comes off as awkward.
Verdict: 4.5/5
The Annual was the send off to what has been a great Flash story, told with all of the fantastical elements and comic-booky lightheartedness as one should come off as. The ending will leave you anticipating the following issues almost unbearably. Manapul and Buccellato have shown us that they can make The Flash their own...now what follows is to see if they can deliver what is shaping up to be one of the great runs on the title.